Monday 14 June 2010

Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon - 1976



I was 18 at the time.... still trying to convince myself I'd be happy as a guy, but mostly too engrossed in my first year of University. Two hours travel in, well over that to get home. Those lab sessions ending at 6pm were murder, but the 9am chemistry lectures were worse. The buses cost a lot too, and I had $76.92 a month to live on.

In some ways, I think the difficulties of my life kept me from thinking about the Big Problem, so it didn't bother me.

One thing that stuck in my mind though. This particular performance, a Musicgasm that I think will be famed even in centuries to come. I'm lucky to have born witness to it - though only via video.

I so wanted to look like her, you know? But I knew I wouldn't even at age 10. "Elphin" I'm not.

3 comments:

Angela said...

Was never a fan of that band or that singer, but we may have been studying at university at about the same time. I looked for answers about why I was born intersex and what to do about it to no avail, searching in the libraries and asking staff members, but the ignorance was profound.

I would like to hope that things may be a little better now, but I suspect not. That deep frustration was one factor why I did not go on to post-grad study there, but the other was the university simply did not offer it in any useful form then. Instead I stumbled into the business world to try to earn a living, but looking and being so different made me stand out and I was never particularly successful.

Today I would recommend that young intersex kids plan a professional career early so that they might have a far better chance of a decent life than I did.

Anonymous said...

Hi Zoe,

I too heard the siren call of Stevie Nicks for I felt that she embodied the quintessential elements of femaleness, or at least what I thought that meant back when I was still trying to pretend to be a man. In the video you so aptly describe we see a quiet, demure, young, blonde, almost wallflowerish girl blossom into a vibrant, powerful, lioness that can’t be ignored. Inside, even if I didn’t acknowledge it to myself back then I felt like that quiet woman but lacking a voice, unable to let anybody hear my roar, until now.

Thank you for sharing Zoe, you’ve brought back a lot of memories for me.

Denise
from BL

Cameron said...

Ah, Stevie! This is an EARLY video! I had the good fortune to see Stevie in concert 4 times, twice with Fleetwood Mac and twice on her solo tours, including the Wild Heart tour. The best versions of Rhiannon are the piano versions done at the end of her solo tours...and I was up against the edge of the stage 4 feet from her for Rhiannon at he close of the concert! Thank you so much for posting this...she remains one of the heroines and Goddesses of my life!